"'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord.
'They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. '"
Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
Is it possible to believe that someone would have only our best interest at heart? Or that anyone could be so selfless that they would strive to satisfy the desires of our heart?
There is one, and only one, who loves us so unconditionally that no matter what mistakes we make, no matter what muck we get ourselves stuck in; even though we may wander away from His love, He always loves us. It may be hard to believe, but it is true.
God is the only one who loves unconditionally, who forgives completely, and who yearns for us to seek Him every day, in every situation, and for every need.
God's love is this complete.
Open your heart and receive His love.
He is waiting with open arms.
Mac Powell from Third Day sings of God's unending love for us in their song:
I've Always Loved You
Please enjoy today's video, prepared as a love letter from God to you;
and believe, with all your heart, that God really does love you.
Subscribers please click on Hope to find to view this video on my blog site.
Mobile users who wish to view this video on youtube may click here.
"But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God."
John 1:12-13
Enjoy Third Day as they perform "Children of God"
And believe...
Subscribers please click on Hope to find to view this video on my blog site. Thanks!
Have you seen those ads where a climber reaches the peak
of a great precipice and stands with arms outstretched as the camera pans
around them? While I don’t harbor a fear of heights, if I were exhausted from
climbing to the top of that mountain, I don’t think I would balance
precariously on a jagged peak. Just sayin’.
The mountaintop experiences I savor are those I share with
God, and I needn’t climb to places of thin oxygen to find Him. Mountaintop
experiences can happen anywhere, and have more to do with my heart’s proximity
to God’s than with where I am.
These intense feelings of joy and peace saturate my spirit,
and I can’t help but smile and sometimes weep at the beauty of the moment.
Feeling so connected to my Creator, in oneness of thought and pure joy, is
exhilarating and peaceful all at the same time.
But I’ve come to realize I couldn’t enjoy these peak
experiences if I hadn’t first walked through the deepest valleys. Because it is
through the valleys of pain and sorrow where I met my Savior, or rather where
He met me.
There have been times when I’ve been at my lowest, when my
spirit was dark and my outlook on life even darker, and I couldn’t find any
hope to start my day. It was from
this deep valley of darkness that I was saved from my situation and from my own
dark thoughts by the only One who could save me.
I cried out to God and He whispered into my darkness that I
was not alone. That comfort helped me begin to find my way out of the pit of
darkness. In my deepest sorrow, a voice spoke softly to my
spirit “I am with you.” This ray of Hope shined like a beacon of Light leading the way out of the darkness. “Follow Me.”
I savor my mountaintop experiences with God, in pure joy and
oneness of Spirit. Though these may be ephemeral moments, I treasure them
knowing how far I have come to know this joy in my life through my relationship
with God. I would not have reached these peaks had I not first walked the
valleys. And through them I learned that I never walk alone.
"Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me." Psalm 23:4 (NLT)
Music speaks to my soul, and Mac Powell of Third Day shares my thoughts beautifully through this song, "Mountain of God." Subscribers please enjoy this video by clicking here.
Temptation. We deal with it every day. What is your
temptation? Is it the sweet or fattening food that you are trying to avoid to
fulfill a resolution for the new year? Do you struggle with an addiction? You
certainly are not alone.
We are all drawn to the feel-good attractions in life. Our
spirits crave joy, and we think we can find that joy in the momentary pleasures from a myriad of choices. But when we look to consumption for our satisfaction,
we realize it is only a matter of time until we need another “fix” to make us
feel good again.
It becomes a cycle. A cycle of
addiction to something that will never satisfy the craving within us. It just
keeps coming back, taking more and more of our time and our life. It’s time
to break the cycle.
Ah, but this is so much more easily said than done. We want
a good, healthy lifestyle but we struggle with all that we are “supposed” to do
to keep ourselves well. It is so hard to stay on track to meet our goals for
self-improvement.
Do you realize some people are actually addicted to
exercise? Can this be a bad thing too? I think anything in excess is more than
we were meant to do. Too much work, too much food, or turning to drugs and
alcohol to quiet our minds only numbs us to what we really crave.
Deep inside we all crave peace. And joy. Belonging.
Relationship. It is easier to reach for temporary satisfaction outside of ourselves than to realize that our desires run deeper than momentary satisfaction. Sometimes we hide ourselves in work or busyness to avoid dealing with internal issues we want to avoid. But we were meant for so
much more.
I believe that the One who created us set inside of us a
deep longing which causes us to become searchers, seeking something that will fulfill
that desire within us. Some people search outside of themselves, and some search
within for fulfillment.
I think the longing that we feel is a desire to connect with
our Maker. I believe we are preprogrammed to want relationship with our Creator. Our
belief in a Higher Power predisposes us to crave relationship with Him. It is through knowing our Maker intimately that we begin to feel our place in this world.
It may be hard for you to believe that a relationship with
God can cure your addictions to the things of this life, but I know this to be
true. Here are words of a song that has yet to be finished:
“You’ve got to give it all to God.
You’ve got to have the love and faith to see it through.
You’ve got to give it all you’ve got -
Enough to let it go.”
~Colleen Reske
Don't expect your addiction to be cured in a flash of lightning.
It takes time to build a relationship and time to understand what drew you to your need in the first place. Giving it all to God opens you up to the healing
powers of the universe. All that is available to you for recovery is out there.
You need to seek wellness with the same desire as you sought solace through substances. You need to earnestly seek God for help in getting well.
It is very
freeing to “give it all away”, to give it all to God. When you do, you start to
develop trust, believing that there is a better way which God will show you.
You have to be receptive to hearing suggestions from those people that God will
put in your path, and you have to want to get well.
There is hope for health, and freedom from whatever binds you.
You have to take the first step by admitting your weakness, and cry out to God
for help. Our God is all-powerful, and He can use that power on your behalf.
All it takes is belief, and a desire to know the One who knows all.
The hope in finding help begins with prayer. We can't do this all on our own, but there is hope and there is help if you want to find it. Blessings on your journey.
Third Day performing "Cry Out to Jesus", especially for my Christian viewers though this powerful message is for all. Email subscribers click here to view the video on my blog.
While living in Texas years ago, I attended a Bible study in the home of a dear
friend from church. My friend had a old, dirty,
cracked flower pot on her table, and she shared that this can be how we feel about
ourselves in our unworthiness before our Lord and Savior. Then she brought forth from the
inside of the filthy pot a beautiful shining crystal vase, and told us all "this is
how God sees you". It took everything within me to not run crying from the room
and never come back.
I thought all God saw of me was my stains, my mistakes and
my failures. I felt I was a fake to be putting on this façade of a strong
Christian woman when inside I was so terribly broken. Perhaps some of you have
felt this way, too.
This video, with footage from the movie “The Story” makes me
weep. The lyrics tell the reason Jesus came; for us to live our story with all
of our failures and brokenness. We come before our Lord and He sees only our
possibilities. He sees our greatness and our potential. With lovingkindness and
forgiveness, our Savior releases us from the bondage of our past. We are born
again, made new in His sight. Our sins are forgotten; they are gone with the
wind. And even if we make more mistakes, and we will, because we are human after
all, we can come to our Lord and ask for forgiveness, and He will set our feet
on the pathway to righteousness once again.
Mac Powell of the band "Third Day" sings these words of truth: "Tell me your story, show me your wounds; and I'll show you what love sees, when love looks at you. Hand me the pieces, broken and bruised, and I'll show you what love sees, when love sees you."
No longer am I ashamed of what once defined me from my past. I am born again in the Spirit. I know Jesus as my Savior and my Lord. I am the daughter of a King! I am blessed. My friend, this is my Christmas wish for you, that you will come to know our Lord personally, and truly believe that you can made new.
If you are struggling with inner demons, He is the one who can save you. You deserve to live a life free from shame. Jesus came for you to live your story. And His great love can help you live your life with gratitude and peace. Do not believe the lie that this promise is not for you. It will be yours when you ask Jesus to come into your life. You can share with him all of your failures and successes. You can learn about His life through reading the New Testament of the Bible, and you can come to know Him personally by coming to Him in prayer. Ask Him for the direction your life should lead. This relationship can be the guiding force of your life. And it can begin with a simple prayer asking Jesus to come into your life.
We all need more than the simple existence of living life on this earth. Our lives are filled with challenges and sorrows, sufferings and joys. God can help us turn our challenges into triumphs, and our sorrows and suffering can help us grow into a closer relationship with Him. Our joys will be filled with gratitude and our rough places made smooth through knowing that God is always with us. Emmanuel, God with us. That is why He came.
